Show Me Your Bottom.

[tangent]

Sorry for the News Ltd style headline but I'd really appreciate some wide feedback.

I know we all like to fiddle with, and improve, our equipment. There's some excellent work done my the newbies lately where they've skipped the bucket in a bucket system all together. (still a big fan of it though)

So since we've collectively all fiddled and farted around with false bottoms, copper pipes and washing machine hoses:

What's the best mash tun design? (and why)
Photos please.

 

[tangent]

I started with this

a big mayo bucket from a pub kitchen. Holes (too few and too big but you get the idea)
inside this

another bucket wrapped in some bubble wrap

with a tap on the bottom.
It works well but a bit of a strain lifting the top bucket out when it's full.
Maybe a pulley setup or something.....

Then the unshakable lure of stainless steel hit me (and I wanted to brew bigger batches)
so one G&G sale and

mmmmm shiny.
Lately for some bizarre reason I've been getting more stuck spages and I'm wondering if it's the way it could get like an air bubble or something because of the way it goes up and down again

like this.

I'm hoping to get some inspiration from you blokes (and ladies) and solve this sparge dilemma.

 

[warrenlw63]

Lately for some bizarre reason I've been getting more stuck spages and I'm wondering if it's the way it could get like an air bubble or something because of the way it goes up and down again
View attachment 10047
like this.

I'm hoping to get some inspiration from you blokes (and ladies) and solve this sparge dilemma.

Probably because you've got some flexible hose in there Tangent. My guess is your FB is lifting and letting grain bits underneath.

I use the very same FB (hard piped with 1/2 inch copper tube) and never encountered a problem.

Warren -

 

[tangent]

that is a dilemma
i can't lower the false bottom anymore and I'd have to drill an external hole and plug the existing one to raise the tap and put some straight pipe on.

 

[Justin]

Tangent, you could try running some water from your HLT backwards through your false bottom before you start to sparge to blow any air bubbles out before you start to sparge.

Another alternative (and the one that I subscribe to) is to fill your mash tun with your dough in water, then before you add any grain whack your MT tap wide open and drain a bit of water (and thus any air in the line out) and then dough in your grains. This is how I prime all my pump lines and MT manifold line.

That way you dough in and do the mash and when it comes time to sparge you don't have any air trapped in there and thus aren't trying to flush the air out with 5 kg of grain in the tun too.

Another option of course is rice hulls.

Cheers, Justin

Edit: Changed "temp" to "tap" on MT. Whoops. Stupid brain, just does it's own damn thing.

 

[tangent]

Justin, you're a genious!
(I'm already using rice hulls)
Like priming a caravan pump tap before you use it!
I'll try that next chance I get.

 

[devo]

I fitted my outlet directly under the tun so that I do get any stuck lauter/sparges. If I do it's very easy to clear.

 

[Pumpy]

Lately for some bizarre reason I've been getting more stuck spages and I'm wondering if it's the way it could get like an air bubble or something because of the way it goes up and down again
View attachment 10047
like this.

I'm hoping to get some inspiration from you blokes (and ladies) and solve this sparge dilemma.

Probably because you've got some flexible hose in there Tangent. My guess is your FB is lifting and letting grain bits underneath.

I use the very same FB (hard piped with 1/2 inch copper tube) and never encountered a problem.

Warren -

Warren you have got some use from that photo

Tangent you cant beat a bit of copper

Pumpy

 

[Justin]

I guess in answer to your original post tangent, I use a bazooka type manifold made of termimesh. I have four sections of mesh (3-4" long) arranged in a H like pattern that are connected up with a few copper T pieces (3/4") and copper pipe (1/2"). Pretty simple design.

I chose this design because I had previously used termimesh in my old mash tun just as a single straight tube and got excellent efficiency and no stuck sparges. So when I built a bigger tun I just made it bigger to cover more area. Seems to work like the first, but my efficiency has dropped a little as I changed to batch sparging at the same time. I sparge far quicker than I used to and don't stress much about the 5% drop. I get around 75%.

 

[AUHEAMIC]

I made it from some s/s perforated sheet. Cut a circle out then cut a V shape and formed it up into a cone and welded it up. I haven't used it yet (soon my pretty). It's about 280mm diameter which I hope is big enough to handle double batches.

 

[BrissyBrew]

link to pic of my false bottom

 

[redbeard]

I was using a copper manifold in my 45l esky but have just switched to the easy hooker ss braid. works a charm. very fast & no stuck sparges yet.

 

[TasChris]

Then the unshakable lure of stainless steel hit me (and I wanted to brew bigger batches)
so one G&G sale and
View attachment 10046
mmmmm shiny.
Lately for some bizarre reason I've been getting more stuck spages and I'm wondering if it's the way it could get like an air bubble or something because of the way it goes up and down again
View attachment 10047
like this.

I'm hoping to get some inspiration from you blokes (and ladies) and solve this sparge dilemma.
[/quote]

I too attached a stainless false bottom with a piece of hose. I used the nylex stuff with the mesh in it and also found that stuck sparges became an issue. I found that at 70 odd degress and with the weight of the grain the hose deformed and closed up so I went for a stainless pipe. I also underlet with a half a litre of water prior to starting to recirc the mash run off to flush out any air and to make sure the wort is not to viscous


Cheers
Chris

 

[Punter]

This was my old MT.

And the false bottom I used. Its just the bottom of a bucket with a million holes drilled
no stuck sparges. I used to use SS braid, but efficiency was seriously low @ 54%.

This is my new and improved system. A 55lt willow esky with copper manifold.

Cheers, Duane.

 

[tangent]

got any pics of the termimesh Justin?

let me get this right: the copper setups are not welded but just fit together snugly?

 

[pint of lager]

The brewgear here has gone through many incarnations from partial mash, bucket in bucket, copper manifold in bucket through to ss false bottom in 50 litre insulated ss vessel. Now the tun set up is similar to Devo's so that it drains directly from the bottom rather than through the side with a false bottom similar to Taschris's.

If you use a bucket in bucket, bubblewrap does a good job insulating, as in Tangent's picture, but you will find a few layers closely packed do a better job rather than a single layer. A few towels on top and underneath helps too. I used a loose cardboard sleeve over the top, jammed with bubblewrap. It traps alot more air for insulation.

The current setup works well, but often, at the start, it will not flow. It is not actually a stuck sparge, more like blocked. A quick puff of air up the drain tube and it is off and running.

The early mashes were plagued with stuck sparges, with lots of rice hulls used. A better tun with a tap that can control the flow rate and a proper crusher rather than a tweaked flour mill have cured the stuck sparges.

Don't forget, the husks from the grain do the filtering and the false bottom holds the husks back. At the start, a few chunks will get through, recirculate, then start running off

 

[devo]

This is top side view of my false bottom set up.

 

[Justin]

got any pics of the termimesh Justin?

let me get this right: the copper setups are not welded but just fit together snugly?

Nothing flash about it, it's just a SS wire mesh. Holes are around 2mm if I remember rightly. Here's my old mash tun design. Sorry, I don;t have any close up pics of the mesh but you get the idea.

 

[Adamt]

How is the mesh held in the valve? Is it just rolled up and shoved in or is it glued with sealant or something?

 

[Justin]

Rolled up, slipped over the 1/2" brass threaded tube that forms the bulkhead (protrudes into the tun about an inch) and then a hose clamp tightens it down. You'd never dislodge it.

FWIW this tun had a nice tapering bottom and a recess that you can see in the photo that the tube lies in, so it will drain dry if you wanted it to. It fits this situation well. If you used another vessel you may have to put a length of shaped pipe to locate it where you wanted it.

Cheers, Justin